GRAND CANYON-PARASHANT NATIONAL MONUMENT

"THIS COUNTRY HAS its special charms,” says Greg Woodall, an archaeological technician for the monument. “There are no towns out there, there are no cities, there are no power lines. It’s just big, wide-open space.” Jointly managed by the Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management, the monument, north of the Grand Canyon, includes more than a million acres of land so remote that cellphones don’t work, roads aren’t paved, and informed travelers carry two spare tires. It also offers a pristine night sky. “I camp out lots of nights, and it’s spectacular,” Woodall says. “Last summer, I got to watch the Milky Way, in all its glory, shifting across the sky.” And, while remote, the park protects a peopled landscape. “I have a million stories about the families that have lived there,” Woodall says. “Paiute families, ranching families, old miners. Part of what we try to do at the monument is tell those stories.”